The present invention relates to a multi-purpose plumbing tool and, in particular, to a multi-purpose plumbing tool for tightening or loosening plumbing parts, especially parts used in drain-waste-vent systems, such as but not limited to, plugs for nominal 1xc2xd inch and 2 inch plastic pipes, faucet mounting nuts with flanges (hereinafter xe2x80x9cflanged faucet mounting nutsxe2x80x9d), bathtub drain pieces, flanged drain test plugs, sink basket strainer pieces, and similar pieces or parts.
Frequently, when clearing clogs in drain-waste-vent systems, it becomes necessary to remove a plug present in the drain-waste-vent system from the drain-waste-vent system to insert a drain snake or auger. The piping of the drain-waste-vent system is normally located within an interior wall of the building and a hole must be provided in the wall to gain access to the plug for its removal so that appropriate clog clearing tool can be introduced into the system. These plugs typically have square heads used to loosen or tighten the plugs and are only about 2 to about 2xc2xd inches across. Accordingly, the size of the hole required in a wall to remove and replace a plug would not have to be very large to permit the removal and replacement of the plug. However, the loosening and tightening of these plugs, as currently practiced, poses a problem. Under current practices, the heads of the plugs are typically gripped with channel lock pliers or similar tools which require an opening much larger than the cross section of the plug. Thus, if the access hole in the wall is approximately the size of the plug in cross section, the portion of the wall adjacent the access hole, typically drywall, becomes damaged by the channel lock pliers or similar tools when the plug is removed and replaced.
Another problem associated with drain-waste-vent systems arises in the installation or removal of bathtub drain pieces. These pieces are typically about two inches long with spokes at the bottom. Currently, to tighten these bathtub drain pieces in place or to loosen these bathtub drain pieces for removal, a plumber will use two screwdrivers which are inserted down into the bathtub drain piece and moved to cause to bathtub drain piece to rotate. The use of the two separate tools to tighten or loosen these bathtub drain pieces can be quite awkward, especially, if threads of the bathtub drain piece and the drain tailpiece are corroded together.
In addition to the need for a tool to alleviate the problems associated with the installation and removal of plugs and bathtub drain pieces discussed above, there has continued to be a need for a tool to facilitate the tightening and loosening of flanged faucet mounting nuts, flanged drain test plugs, sink basket strainers, and similar pieces or parts.
The multi-purpose plumbing tool of the present invention solves the problems currently encountered in carrying out the above plumbing procedures by providing a multi-purpose plumbing tool that: enables plugs to be easily rotated and unthreaded from or threaded into plumbing fittings within a wall though an opening in the drywall that only needs to be large enough to accommodate the plug; enables flanged faucet mounting nuts to be easily rotated and threaded onto or unthreaded from faucet stems; bathtub drain pieces to be easily rotated and threaded into or unthreaded from drain assemblies; flanged drain test plugs to be easily rotated and threaded into or unthreaded from bathtub drain pieces or parts; and sink strainer pieces to be easily held stationary while a strainer nut is rotated and threaded onto or unthreaded from the sinke strainer.
Preferably, the multi-purpose plumbing tool of the present invention includes first and second tubular sockets which can be extended through holes in walls to reach the heads of plugs within the walls, accommodate faucet stems when threading faucet mounting nuts onto or off of faucet stems, and extended down into bathtub drain or up to basket strainer pieces to thread such parts into or unthread such parts from drain assemblies. A first end portion of each of the tubular sockets has four notches therein, extending inward from a first end of the tubular socket and spaced from each other on 90xc2x0 centers, for receiving a complementary part to be tightened or loosened by one of the sockets, such as the square head of a pipe fitting plug, the flanges on a faucet mounting nut or test plug, or the radially extending spokes of a bathtub drain or basket strainer piece. As used herein the term xe2x80x9ccomplementary partxe2x80x9d includes pieces or parts which have heads or flanges that fit into or are received within the notches of the socket so that the piece or part can be rotated and tightened or loosened by threading or unthreading the piece or part from another piece or part, such as but not limited to the four corners of a square head of a plug which are received within the four notches; a flange or pairs of flanges which are received within two diametrically opposed notches of the four notches; and two flanges or pairs of flanges or spokes oriented at right angles to each other that are each received within two diametrically opposed notches of four notches.
The second tubular socket can accommodate and is used to rotate and tighten or loosen larger sized parts or pieces than the first tubular socket. Preferably, the second end portion of the second tubular socket can be removably mounted on the first end portion of the first tubular socket to rotate with the first tubular socket. The second end portion of the first tubular socket has a hole extending through its wall for receiving a handle and/or a hole in an end wall of the socket for receiving a conventional socket drive and/or a similar means for rotating the first tubular socket to tighten or loosen a complementary part received in the notches of the first tubular socket or received in the notches of the second tubular socket when the second tubular socket is mounted on the first end portion of the first tubular socket.